"Elvis on Tour" is a documentary that provides glimpses of the performer behind the scenes, his onstage persona, and his performances of several hit songs.
At this stage of his career, he was besieged by bodily pains and turmoil surrounding the final stages of his marriage to Priscilla--something he would never recover from. He was coping with drugs and, in fact, he would die a few years later. But the film does not document these real dimensions of his life. It only deals with his public face and the dedication of his fans. As such, it feels like little more than a promotional film.
We see Elvis backstage before going on, waiting nervously with his entourage. We see him dressed in his Evel Knievel-like caped jumpsuits, still possessing a voice, but not fully invested in providing a concise performance. We see the audiences, filled with adoring fans, screaming and crying, attesting to his popularity.
Like Sinatra, whose popularity never waned, Elvis has become a caricature of himself at this point. And serious singing has given way to showmanship, punctuated with posings and karate kicks. But his audiences loved all of this.
Elvis did make some good music. And some of his best songs were released late in his career, but in 1972 at this film's releasing, the major hits were behind him.
The film does a good job capturing the phenomenon that is Elvis. But the amount of split screen editing feels excessive, like they are trying to make some scenes feel more exciting than they were.
At this stage of his career, he was besieged by bodily pains and turmoil surrounding the final stages of his marriage to Priscilla--something he would never recover from. He was coping with drugs and, in fact, he would die a few years later. But the film does not document these real dimensions of his life. It only deals with his public face and the dedication of his fans. As such, it feels like little more than a promotional film.
We see Elvis backstage before going on, waiting nervously with his entourage. We see him dressed in his Evel Knievel-like caped jumpsuits, still possessing a voice, but not fully invested in providing a concise performance. We see the audiences, filled with adoring fans, screaming and crying, attesting to his popularity.
Like Sinatra, whose popularity never waned, Elvis has become a caricature of himself at this point. And serious singing has given way to showmanship, punctuated with posings and karate kicks. But his audiences loved all of this.
Elvis did make some good music. And some of his best songs were released late in his career, but in 1972 at this film's releasing, the major hits were behind him.
The film does a good job capturing the phenomenon that is Elvis. But the amount of split screen editing feels excessive, like they are trying to make some scenes feel more exciting than they were.